The stats given in the intro to this blog caught my attention immediately. I am not a big TV watcher, and the fact that we are exposed to at least 15 TV food commercials during prime-time tv is crazy! What makes it worse is that these commercials are mostly for salty, fatty, or sugary foods. And the absolute worst part of all is this: the commercials WORK.
Yale university colleagues conducted a few studies and found one extremely strinking result:
Children who ahd watched a food advertisement then been offered goldfish ate 45% more than those who hadn't seen the advertisement.
Some may conclude that children are simply more impressionable, but further studies on young adults who viewed adverts for snack or healthy foods revealed that those who had seen the snack food commercials ate one-third more snack food.
The article clearly shows the power advertisers hold over even the most mature eaters. It makes me consider how much more easily I would succumb to unhealthy temptations if I actually watched TV once in a while!
Monday, December 7, 2009
ch. 16 Social Psychology
This was my favorite chapter of the entire book. I didn't get bored reading it because it was highly informative about things we experience all the time, like stereotyping, prejudice, etc.
A few points of interest were:
The theory that cruel acts shape the self. Our high school psychology teacher's motto is "Think Feel Act Become." This theory correlates with his motto perfectly. Act as though you like someone, and you eventually will. I agree with the book in that changing our behavior can change how we think about others and ourselves, boosting likeability and self-esteem.
I also thought the part in the book about things like sickness being PSYCHOLOGICALLY contagious. When we think we will get sick because a large amount of others are, we practically make ourselves sick! I have seen this at school and agree completely.
Finally, I agreed with the section int he text about strengthening conformity. Cliques at school DO seem to strengthen and grow when there are more than 3 people, they all dislike or like the same thing/person, and they have a popular status. Many groups with these characteristics are demeaning toward others. It is hard to find a "nice" group with a good reputation.
I never thought this day would come, but this is the end of my last chapter blog EVER!
A few points of interest were:
The theory that cruel acts shape the self. Our high school psychology teacher's motto is "Think Feel Act Become." This theory correlates with his motto perfectly. Act as though you like someone, and you eventually will. I agree with the book in that changing our behavior can change how we think about others and ourselves, boosting likeability and self-esteem.
I also thought the part in the book about things like sickness being PSYCHOLOGICALLY contagious. When we think we will get sick because a large amount of others are, we practically make ourselves sick! I have seen this at school and agree completely.
Finally, I agreed with the section int he text about strengthening conformity. Cliques at school DO seem to strengthen and grow when there are more than 3 people, they all dislike or like the same thing/person, and they have a popular status. Many groups with these characteristics are demeaning toward others. It is hard to find a "nice" group with a good reputation.
I never thought this day would come, but this is the end of my last chapter blog EVER!
Assignment Blog - Not My Type
Attribution is explaining someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition, in other words, it is explaining someone's behavior rationally and not jumping to comclusions or blaming.
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to underestimate the situation or overestimate the impact of personal disposition when analyzing another's behavior. An example of the attribution error can be found in the last problem of the final :)
Stereotypes are generalized beliefs we hold about a specific group of people. Examples could be jocks, preps, nerds, goths, emos, Christians, to name a few. Stereotyping is directly related to illusory correlations in that these correlations feed our beliefs. When we believe a relationship exists between two things, we are more likely to notice when something happens that confirm what we think (and less likely to notice or store memories of when something contradicts what we believe). We like to think that what WE believe is what most people believe as well.
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to underestimate the situation or overestimate the impact of personal disposition when analyzing another's behavior. An example of the attribution error can be found in the last problem of the final :)
Stereotypes are generalized beliefs we hold about a specific group of people. Examples could be jocks, preps, nerds, goths, emos, Christians, to name a few. Stereotyping is directly related to illusory correlations in that these correlations feed our beliefs. When we believe a relationship exists between two things, we are more likely to notice when something happens that confirm what we think (and less likely to notice or store memories of when something contradicts what we believe). We like to think that what WE believe is what most people believe as well.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Blogging Personality
Birth order is something I find very relevant to my personality.
Upon discussing birth order in the text and in class, I pulled out an old favorite... "Perfect Match." It's a book about finding the "perfect" mate, and it relies on birth order theories. I looked into middle children, and a main emphasis was that middle children often try to imitate the parent they admire. They also try to recieve attention by acting like their parent in order to impress them.
My mom is my role model and always has been. She's had a rough ride and is still the strongest, most organized, driven, caring person I know. It dawned on me after completing my Big 5 test that my results matched her personality...a lot! We've been told we're very much alike, my results of having a disagreeableness, conscientiousness, high-strung personality verified that! So, I think subconsciously trying to imitate or impress my mother throughout the years has shaped my personality to be more like hers than it would have otherwise been.
I usually don't find the lectures on the text helpful because I read the chapter in depth ahead of time, and the lectures usually just re-iterate what I've already learned. However, I did enjoy the Moral Psychology video. The comparison between various countries concering the 5 foundations we enter the world with at birth (Ingroup, harm, purity, fairness, and authority) was really interesting. Most countries agreed that harm and fairness were important, but the difference came between the liberals and conservatives when questioning the other 3 foundations. The speaker's adaptation of what the greatest wonder of the worlsd was was very interesting also. He thought that people living together within the 5 foundations and finding ways to respect and work together in testing places and climates was the greatest wonder, not the grand canyon. I have to say, I agree!
Upon discussing birth order in the text and in class, I pulled out an old favorite... "Perfect Match." It's a book about finding the "perfect" mate, and it relies on birth order theories. I looked into middle children, and a main emphasis was that middle children often try to imitate the parent they admire. They also try to recieve attention by acting like their parent in order to impress them.
My mom is my role model and always has been. She's had a rough ride and is still the strongest, most organized, driven, caring person I know. It dawned on me after completing my Big 5 test that my results matched her personality...a lot! We've been told we're very much alike, my results of having a disagreeableness, conscientiousness, high-strung personality verified that! So, I think subconsciously trying to imitate or impress my mother throughout the years has shaped my personality to be more like hers than it would have otherwise been.
I usually don't find the lectures on the text helpful because I read the chapter in depth ahead of time, and the lectures usually just re-iterate what I've already learned. However, I did enjoy the Moral Psychology video. The comparison between various countries concering the 5 foundations we enter the world with at birth (Ingroup, harm, purity, fairness, and authority) was really interesting. Most countries agreed that harm and fairness were important, but the difference came between the liberals and conservatives when questioning the other 3 foundations. The speaker's adaptation of what the greatest wonder of the worlsd was was very interesting also. He thought that people living together within the 5 foundations and finding ways to respect and work together in testing places and climates was the greatest wonder, not the grand canyon. I have to say, I agree!
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